Apparatus for raising and conveying sunken bodies.



No. 669,467. b Patented Mar. 5, 190|. M. M. J. 0. OCNR.

APPARATUS FOB RAIS'ING A'ND GONVEYING SUNKEN yBDIES.

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APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND CONVEYING SUNKEN BODIES.

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No. 669,467.- Patented Mar. 5, I90I.

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M. M. J. U. UCONOR. APPARATUS FDR RAISING AND CDNVEYING SUNKEN BODIES.

. (Application led June 6. 1898,)

(No Model.) I8 Sheets-Sheet l5,

No.' 669,467. Patented Mar. 5, |90I. M. M. J. 0. UCONOR.

APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND CUNVEYING SUNKEN BODIES.

(Application filed .Tune 6, 1898.) (No Model.) I8 Sheets-Sheet I6.

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i Unite' mates MAURICE MARY JOSEPH OWEN OOONOR, OF DRUMSIIAMBO, IRELAND.

APPARATUS FOR HAISING AND CONVEYING SUNKEN BODIES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 669,467, dated March 5, 1901.

Application filed June 6, )7898. Serial No. 682.709. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that LMAURICE MARY JOSEPH OWEN OCONOR, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Inisfale Island, Drumshambo, in the county of Leitrim, Ireland, have invented Apparatus for Finding, Raising, and Conveying Sunken Bodies, of which the following is a specification.

rIhe object of this invention is to provide apparatus by which submerged ships or other bodies (hereinafter referred to-as ships) may be searched for and found, secured, raised, conveyed to any desired place, and'there be raised and supported above the surface of the Water by the apparatus while being eitamined or repaired or for any other purpose,

or else be discharged according to requirement, suoli apparatus being also suitable for reloating ships that may have gone aground, for raising ships in the water, and thus reducing their draft sufficiently to enable them to pass over sand banks, bars, and other shallows, and to enter and leave tide-bound harbors, estuaries, bays, rivers, and other waterways too shallow for them to traverse in the ordinary way at their full draft, and to raise ships above the surface of the water for drydocking them for examination and repair.

An apparatus for the above-mentioned purposes according to this invention comprises the following features: (altwo cylindrical or other vessels of suitable strength and usually of greater length than any submerged or other ship they are intended to'iind or raise, these vessels being of such displacement that with their contained (or attached) machinery they can themselves tioat and also raise and support (in addition to their connecting-gear) a ship or other body to be raised, supported, and removed; (o) chains or other dexible connectionswhereby the two cylindrical or other vessels are connected, whereby the said vessels can be caused to move toward one another, `and whereby, also, a ship' can be supported duringand after the raising operation; (c) machinery carried by the cylindrical or other Vessels and adapted to be controlled from the surface of the water, such machinery being adapted for hauling in the said chains or other flexible connections in such a manner as to, first, cause the said vessels to be drawn toward one another laterally and so to approach any ship or other body located within the area inclosed or surrounded by the vessels and their chains or other ilexi ble connections, and also, second, to simultaneously alter the positions of the chains or other flexible connections relatively to the ends of the vessels at the points where they enter the vessels in such a way as to force them to travel in an inward direction and away from both ends of the vessels, so that the apparatus will be caused to contract or converge simultaneously on all sides toward a given center and cause the chains or other flexible connections to pass under the said ship or other body and bring the vessels close against the said ship or other body, and (d) arms or projections securely [ixed to and projecting laterally from the exterior-s of the said cylindrical or other vessels and adapted to enable those vessels to be moved in a rotary sense, so as by altering their displacement in the water to raise a ship sufficiently to bring its bottom above the bottoms of the cylindrical or other vessels of theA apparatus and so that the raised ship may be supported with its lowermost part above the surface of the water on which the cylindrical or other vessels are for the time being floating, or to enable a ship to pass through shallow water, or to refloat a ship if it has gone aground, the said arms or projections serving also to steady the vessels and prevent them rolling or turning when on the bed of the sea, and to maintain the chains or other flexible connections on the bed of the sea at the points where they enter the vessels, and (e) means whereby water can be admitted to the interiors of the cylindrical or other vessels for the purpose of causing them to sink, and whereby water can be afterward withd rawn from and air admitted to the interiors of the said vessels in order to cause them to rise.

In order that my said invention may be clearly understood, I hereunto annex drawings, in which I illustrate (as exam ples) several modifications of apparatus embodying, in combination, the features hereinabove enumerated; but it is to be understood that I reserve the right to vary the forms, proportions,

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dimensions, and materials employed in carrying out my invention as may be found desirable to meet the requirements of all cases.

Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 are perspective views, to different scales, showing the apparatus in various positions preparatory and during use. Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view showing the apparatus with a ship to be raised thereby,and Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the shipr'ai'sed above the water-level bythe apparatus. Fig. 7 shows in side elevation one of the cylindrical vessels with the parts carried thereby. Figs. 8 and 8l together show in central vertical longitudinal section,to a larger scale, approximately one-half of one of the cylindrical vessels with contained machinery. To facilitate description I call this View a yertical section and will treat other views accordingly, because, regard being had to the location of the machinery within the cylindrical vessel,if that vessel were afloat the portion containing the machinery would naturally be the lower portion. Figs. 9 and 9 together show a longitudinal sectional view in the lineA B of Figs. 8 and 8, Fig. 10 shows a transverse sectional view in two planes, approximately according to the line C D of Fig. 8, but to a larger scale. Fig. 10a is a sectional detail view. Figs. 11 and l2 are views at right angles to one another, to a larger scale than Fig. 10, illustrating an antifriction-ball arrangement. Fig. 13 shows in side elevation part of one of the cylindricalvessels with one of the arms or brackets and pulleys carried thereby. Fig. 14 shows, to a slightly dierent scale from Fig. 10, a longitudinal sectional view of hydraulic apparatus for drawing in the chains or connections between the vessels. In this view the parts occupying the relative positions which obtain before the hydraulic rams have commenced their operative strokes. view corresponding to Fig. 14, but showing the other extreme or outward position of' the hydraulic rams. Fig. 16 is a View, to a larger scale than Figs. 14 and 15, showing more clearly the construction of that portion of the apparatus which is shown in the upper righthand portion of Fig. 14. Fig. 17 shows, to the same scale as Fig. 16, a cross-sectional View corresponding, except as to scale, to a transverse section on the line E F of Fig. 15.`

Fig. 18 is a diagrammatic view to a reduced scale and illustrating the action of the hydraulic apparatus in drawing in the chains or connections between the vessels. Fig. 19 is a cross-section corresponding, except as to scale, to the line G H of Fig. 9. Figs. 20 and 21 are cross-sections corresponding to the lines I J and K L, respectively, of Fig. 19. Fig. 22 shows in elevation part of one of the chains or connections. Figs. 23 and 24 are two views at right angles to one another, showing the lower part of a buoy with a device for readily securing a chain thereto and for readily releasingvsuch chain. Figs. 25 and 26 are similar views to Figs. 9 and 10, respectively, showing a modification. Fig. 27 is a Fig. 15 is a' vertical section on the line M N of Fig. 28; Fig. 28, a horizontal section on the line O P of Fig. 27, but with some of the parts in a different position; and Fig. 29, a cross-section on the line Q R of Fig. 27, showing another modified construction. Fig. 30 is a similar View to Fig. 29, showing a further modification.

Fig. 1 is a general View in which there is shown afloat an apparatus according to this invention, l 1 being the two Vessels, which are of cylindrical form, with their ends tapered; 2V 2, arms or projections securely fixed to and projecting laterally from the exteriors of the said vessels and adapted to enable these vessels to be moved in a rotary sense and also to steady and hold the vessels in position, as already referred to; 3 3, rows of buoys whereby chains or other fiexible connections (not seen in this View) that connect the two cylindrical vessels 1 1 are supported, the several buoysin each row being held apart by rods of rigid material, and 4 4 steamships whereby the apparatus is being towed into position preparatory to being sunk. Fig. 2 is a similar view, to a somewhat larger scale, in which the apparatus is represented as lying upon the bed of the se'a preparatory to the ma chinery contained Vin the cylindrical vessels 1 1 being operated so as to haul onto the iexible connections 5, (which in this example are chains havingthe central or intermediate portion 5 of their lengths of' much greater strength than the ren1ainder,) so as to cause the two cylindrical vessels 1 1 to move toward the stinken ship 6 and simultaneously to cause the chains to pass under the ship 6, the stronger portions"L of the chains occupying positions beneath the ship when the vessels 1 have been brought close against her sides. The thin dotted lines 10 10 indicate strong armored flexible air-tubes, to which are secured electric cables in suchwise that through the tubes air may, according to requirement, enter or leave the cylindrical vessels 1, (air entering as `water is discharged and leaving as water is admitted,) and through the electric cables the necessary electric currents are conducted for the purpose of operating the electric motors whereby to work, when required, the pumps for discharging water from within the cylindrical vessels, as also to work the machinery fordrawing the cylindrical vessels toward one anotherthrough the media of the flexible connections 5. To

obviate liability of' fracture of the air-tubes IOC 

